Electronic Weapons: Arab Eyes On Iran

Archives

December 12, 2015: The UAE (United Arab Emirates) is buying two more Erieye AEW (airborne early warning) aircraft from Sweden for $635 million each. These are the improved and enlarged versions of the two Swedish Erieye AEW aircraft the UAE bought in 2009. Those were based on the 13 ton Saab 340 airliner h a cruising speed of 290 kilometers an hour and able to stay in the air about five hours per sortie. The radar can also spot ships at sea, and thus can also fill in for maritime reconnaissance. The latest version of Erieye is carried in the Global 6000, a 42 ton twin-jet aircraft with a cruising speed of 900 kilometers an hour and an endurance of about ten hours.

The Erieye system is built around an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar (which consists of thousands of tiny radars that can be independently aimed in different directions). This is similar to the AESA radar used on the American JSTARS aircraft a system that could locate vehicles moving on the ground. The Swedish AESA is cheaper, because it's built like a long bar, mounted on top of the aircraft. This means the radar can only see, in a 120 degree arc, off both sides of the aircraft. A 60 degree arc in the front and back is uncovered. The radar can spot large aircraft out to nearly 500 kilometers, and more common fighter sized aircraft at about 300 kilometers.

The UAE uses these aircraft to manage air campaigns, including the one under way in Yemen since March 2015. The primary use for UAE AEW aircraft is a war with Iran.

 

 

 

 


Article Archive

Electronic Weapons: Current 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 


X

ad
0
20

Help Keep Us Soaring

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month.

Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage. A contribution is not a donation that you can deduct at tax time, but a form of crowdfunding. We store none of your information when you contribute..
Subscribe   Contribute   Close